“Real poverty is refusing to share what you have…”. Bosco Kutoma

Our former student and now dear friend, Bosco Kutoma, dropped by to see us in Mongu this morning. He had just returned from two weeks in the field training leaders of new churches with a team from the local Hope Church. Our conversation was rich and covered many topics.

It was exhilarating to hear about the number of new churches that are being planted, AND are receiving solid biblical training. Bosco told us how he continues to use our teaching manual as he prayerfully decides what to teach each group of leaders, multiplying what Percy and we have taught him beginning in 2013. We are humbled and grateful.

At one point in the conversation, Bosco became quite animated as he shared his thoughts about what is happening in Zambia, the fifth poorest nation in Africa. He said, “Poverty is not the lack of shelter, or clothes, or shoes. Poverty is the refusal to share what you have been given.” He went on to say that by his definition there are many so-called rich people who are truly poor and there are those who lack essentials that are actually rich. He continued, “Imagine if each of us shared generously what God had given us, whatever it is, whether knowledge or skill or whatever?” Yes, imagine…

We’ve been in Mongu, Zambia since last Friday following a whirlwind couple of weeks in Livingstone, Mwandi, Kazungula, and Musokotwane with Maria and Amanda (see previous post). I was scheduled to preach on Sunday at Pastor Yuyi Mundia’s Vineyard Church, but I had come down with a bad head cold last Thursday and rested instead. Percy and Nathan went, though, and led worship there.

Monday afternoon, we began training some of the students we had trained in January and it has gone extremely well. Our topic has been “Understanding Biblical Submission.” In this training, we have been exploring the nature of biblical submission regarding our relationships with God, church leadership, fellow church members, the family, and government. We look both at good and bad submission, making clear that biblical submission is relational, voluntary, and mutual. Basically, we look at the nature of transformed Christian relationships and this is leading to some very spirited and relevant discussions, especially here where traditional views are in transition.

One of the things we’ve learned through the years is that while sound biblical training in a relational setting is crucial, the one-on-ones that follow are often even more valuable. The Kingdom of God comes alive in individual Christians and time spent discussing deeply what God is doing in our lives, digging more deeply into the topics covered in training, and encouraging one another to implement what we have learned together makes all the difference. We are so grateful for the privilege of doing this kind of mission. It has changed our lives.

Please continue to pray as our time in Mongu comes to a close. Next Monday, we head to Sioma, about two hours south, to hold our first ever boot camp for training trainers followed by one week of co-training.

And remember, where we go, you go!

What could be better than to spend some time under the trees with a former student and dear friend who is multiplying our ministry throuGh healthy church planting and leadership training?